Hyundai CEO: Our hybrids will be better than the Prius

<AHEM>Not one is on the show room floor. So far, it has as much substance as the hydrogen fool cell cars. We call it PowerPoint engineering.

Bob Wilson

 

They named a car "Santa Fe"??? I don't think I'd want to drive a car called Santa Fe. I'd be afraid people would think I was a Catholic. (Santa Fe is Spanish for "Holy Faith" and is how the Catholic Church describes itself in Spanish-speaking countries.)

 

Yeah. They probably don't even know what it means. Which is okay for them, because most Americans don't either, and few of those that do would be bothered by it.

 

Somehow, I reallyeep: don't believe that the Pope runs Hyundai, and there is some sort of Catholic conspiracy in car names. Just skeptical, I guess.

 

I was not suggesting that. I was saying that in picking a city name for their car they didn't realize that the name means "Holy Faith," which is a watchword used by the Church, and that as an atheist I would not be comfortable owning a car called "Holy Faith."

Imagine trying to sell Christians a car called "There is only one god and Muhammad is his prophet."

 

Well, of course he's going to say that. What's he going to say? Our cars won't be quite as good as the Prius?

My brother in law used to work for Hyundai about 10 years ago. I'm sorry he didn't stay with them. I predicted they'd get better and better and become quite competitive in quality and price.

So....I'll reserve my judgement until they actually have some cars out there to compare in quality, price, size, amenities and mpg.

 

And in typical Hyundai / Kia fashion they will rename it the Prios.

 

I also traded in my 2006 Sonata for my 2005 Prius. It was a nice car, but a little big for my taste and the mileage wasn't great. My husband will be trading in his 2006 Tiburon as soon as our Prius comes in.

(Our daughter worked at the Hyundai dealer when we needed two cars)

 

Toyota says Prius means "to go before" or "ahead of it's time" in Latin. Whew, I guess you're safe....if that is what it REALLY means.
The full name for Santa Fe is "La Villa Real de Santa Fe de St. Francisco de Assis" which means "the royal city of the holy faith of St. Francis of Assisi."

 

That's the city. Not the car. I don't think the full name of the car is "La Villa Real de la Santa Fe de San Francisco de Asis."

 

Two US nuclear submarines are named San Francisco and Santa Fe. I remember reading (but cannot now find) a controversy about naming such things after saints. The workaround, supposedly, was to call them "The City of..." instead.

 

good for hyundai...its the best way to reinvent itself is to beat the top dog!!!

prius is quite OLD-Tech for sure, still nothing better is offered at the moment, so now its the "best-tech"

 

It isnt.

The cars name is "Your Holiness La Villa Real de la Santa Fe de San Francisco de Assis."

ZC1

 

I own a 2008 Veracruz and I must admit, Hyundai has come a VERY long way since the early 90's when I first started to work on cars, They were crap back then. If one were to take the time and really look into the Veracruz, there are a few surprises in the detail that went into it. The engine is extremely quiet, the ride is very smooth, everything is put together nicely. When I changed the oil in it I went underneath giving it a once over and was impressed with how they undercoated it, they did a very nice job at the factory with sealing it and sound deadening. Santa Fe owners drive theirs into the ground, finding a used one that doesn't have over 100K on it is very hard to do. Consumer Reports ranks it as one of the most reliable SUV's out there. Hyundai has come a long way since their first cars came out, they are no longer the same car company they once were. They also put a lot of time behind the wheel of a new car before they release it for production, and it shows. I really like the Veracruz, I just wish it got better MPG, but if it did, it probably wouldn't be able to get out of its own way, cant have power and good MPG at the same time. It gets 18.7 in normal driving and 25 on the highway. Not too bad for a 7 passenger vehicle.

 

As far as car names go, one of the best is the initial GM attempts to sell the Nova in spanish speaking countries. (i.e. translation "No Go").

 

I find it annoying when corporate heads get up and blather on and on of how they are going to do this or going to do that when the truth is they haven't done squat. How about you actually do something of merit before you get up and crow about it?

As far as reliability goes, Hyundai has a long, long way to go. In the latest reliability reports compiled by CR from its readers, Hyundai is neck and neck with GM and Chrysler for bottom of the barrel honors being only topped by VW's pathetic build quality. The Santa Fe is ranked 18th among mid-sized SUV's and is in the average range. Not bad but certainly nothing to hang your hat on.

 

AAAAGGGHHHH, not again......

snopes.com: Nova Don't Go

If the Koreans can build Hybrids with the same techo-savvy they are currently building cell phones and MIDs, I'd buy one.